Bhopal

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BHOPAL: In order to tap the 100-110 cc segment, two-wheeler major, Honda Motorcycles and Scooter India Private Ltd (HMSI) today launched new motorcycle 'Dream Neo' here to attract growing number of customers in this category. "Dream Neo is Honda's most affordable and most fuel efficient two-wheeler ever introduced in the country," HMSI Divisional Head (Central Region) P Rajagopi told reporters here after the launch. He said that the latest offering was loaded with attractive and best in class features like a top mileage of 74 kmpl and is being delivered at an aggressive pricing to attract large number of customers in the mass 100-110 cc segment.

NEW DELHI: A group of survivors of the Bhopal gas tragedy Sunday said the central government should set up a commission for effective medical care, economic rehabilitation and social support for the victims. At a press conference ahead of the 30th anniversary of the Union Carbide gas leak disaster, a group of organisations representing the survivors also demanded that the government create a special prosecution cell for speedy trial of the accused Indian corporate officials, including former Union Carbide chairman Keshub Mahindra.

NEW DELHI: Former Supreme Court Chief Justice A H Ahmadi on Tuesday rejected criticism of dilution of charge against Union Carbide executives in Bhopal gas tragedy case, saying in criminal law there was no concept of vicarious liability. He also lamented that there was absence of law to deal with disasters of Bhopal kind and said law can be amended to provide for adequate punishment. Justice Ahmadi, who headed the bench in 1996 that converted the CBI charge under the stringent provisions of 304-II that provided for maximum of 10 years imprisonment to Section with two years maximum imprisonment, said it was easy for people to talk and make allegations but judges have to work under the system.

NEW DELHI: The Centre on Wednesday constituted an oversight committee to co-ordinate and monitor activities related to waste disposal, decontamination and remediation at the Union Carbide factory in Bhopal. Headed by Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh and Madhya Pradesh minister for relief and rehabilitation Babulal Gaur, the panel will ensure that all requisite technical, financial and other support is available to the state government and its authorities. The primary responsibility for the removal of the toxic waste from the now defunct Union Carbide plant, soil and ground water remediation, and detoxification and dismantling of the defunct plant will be that of the state government.

Muhammad Khan, a former Union Carbide employee, is confronted with the tragedy every time he steps out of his house. In front of his home is the crumbling factory. Another ugly, poisonous reminder lies behind barely 20 metres away... dry beds that were once solar evaporation ponds of Union Carbide. More than the factory itself, these ponds are cruel neighbours, silent killers, still spewing out their poison many, many, many nights after the catastrophic darkness of December 2, 1984.

NEW DELHI: BJP'S deputy Rajya Sabha leader Sushma Swaraj will be the BJP's candidate from Bhopal, replacing former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Kailash Joshi. Efforts are now on to convince two more party heavyweights, M Venkaiah Naidu and Arun Jaitley, to enter the electoral fray so as give a fillip to txhe party's prospects. Ms Swaraj, who had initially decided to rivet her attention on campaigning for the party in the ensuing electoral battle, has now been persuaded by Mr L K Advani to enter the fray herself.

NEW DELHI: An Indian court issued a warrant on Friday for the arrest of the former head of the American chemical company responsible for a gas leak that killed at least 10,000 people in Bhopal 25 years ago. Warren Anderson was the head of Union Carbide Corp. when its factory in the central Indian city leaked 40 tons of poisonous gas on Dec. 3, 1984 _ the world's worst industrial disaster. More than 555,000 people who survived the initial disaster are thought to have suffered aftereffects, though the exact number of victims has never been determined.

NEW DELHI: A quarter of a century after the worst industrial disaster in history, a Bhopal district court sentenced seven people, including business leader Keshub Mahindra , for two years in jail under sections of Indian law usually applied to road mishaps. The Bhopal Gas Tragedy occurred on December 3, 1984, when leaking fumes of toxic methyl isocyanite from the Union Carbide plant spread to neighbouring slums, killing thousands and impairing a generation for life.

The Bhopal gas disaster made headlines 25 years ago as the world's largest chemical disaster, a deadly leak of methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas from a Union Carbide pesticide plant injuring half a million people, killing 22,000, disabling another 1,50,000. Subsequently, it was largely remembered as a tragic, but isolated event. But disasters proliferate. They reproduce. Every famous disaster has its less-famous parents, it has offspring that are yet to hit the big time. Three years before the great gas leak, on December 25, 1981, the same chemical plant in Bhopal leaked enough phosgene to kill one worker at the plant and grievously injure two. A month later, on January 9, 1982, a second leak put 25 more workers in hospital.

WASHINGTON: The US has dismissed as "incorrect" reports that it is linking India's efforts to seek more compensation from the Union Carbide in the Bhopal gas tragedy with the bilateral investment ties, saying it is committed to building a strong relationship with the country. "The assertion that there was linkage between two separate and distinct issues is wrong, is incorrect," Benjamin Chang, Deputy Spokesperson of the National Security Council in the White House, said.